


What About Us

by skatty



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Being a teenager SUCKS, Ernest's other father, M/M, Mat Sella/Dadsona mentioned, Other, Slice of Life, being a parent is hard, everyone is a little shit, more tags will follow, patchwork family problems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-18 08:30:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11870511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skatty/pseuds/skatty
Summary: Being a teenager is hard enough already. You struggle, you hurt and you feel left out. The last thing you need is another parent, the last thing you want is change.Damien and Hugo are dating and while they try to get their relationship on another level, the teenagers have their very own struggle going on.a.k.a. A Vegamarch Patchwork story.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Featuring: Chatting, playing videogames, being a teenager is difficult, despair, worried parents and the feeling of getting old.
> 
> Warnings: Teenagers curse a lot & Lucien's self-loath.

yungsteinbeck69 (04:26:33 PM)

hey

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:26:38 PM)

hey

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:26:42 PM)

loser

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:26:44 PM)

hey

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:26:48 PM)

luuuuuucy

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:26:54 PM)

LUCIEN

 

xproblem_childx (04:26:56 PM)

omg what?

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:27:12 PM)

you okay?

 

xproblem_childx (04:27:45 PM)

yeah? u?

yungsteinbeck69 (04:28:05 PM)

No I mean like.. really ok?

 

xproblem_childx (04:30:25 PM)

why do you ask?

yungsteinbeck69 (04:31:03 PM)

I saw you with that dick today

 

xproblem_childx (04:31:22 PM)

Which one? Must have been just you

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:31:45 PM)

Haha

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:31:50 PM)

Funny

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:31:58 PM)

Original

 

xproblem_childx (04:31:59 PM)

:)

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:32:01 PM)

Dashing

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:32:04 PM)

Ok

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:32:31 PM)

I meant that other dude. What's his name again? Chad?

 

xproblem_childx (04:32:55 PM)

Ughhhhh

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:33:12 PM)

Knew it!

 

xproblem_childx (04:33:35 PM)

So what's this about?

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:33:42 PM)

Dunno was just curious.

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:33:54 PM)

You know he's a dick right?

 

xproblem_childx (04:34:12 PM)

He isn't _that_ bad

 

xproblem_childx (04:34:14 PM)

I think

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:34:28 PM)

I dunno

bitch eats his bread triangle shaped

 

xproblem_childx (04:34:34 PM)

??

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:34:40 PM)

Illuminati confirmed!

 

xproblem_child (04:34:59 PM)

I think he eats his bread like every other person

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:35:08 PM)

Illuminati confirmed!!!

 

xproblem_childx (04:35:15 PM)

Ur stupid

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:35:22 PM)

And you're ugly

 

xproblem_childx (04:35:28 PM)

You're tiny

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:35:34 PM)

And you don't have friends

 

xproblem_childx (04:35:39 PM)

I beg to differ

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:35:44 PM)

Yeah sure

 

xproblem_childx (04:36:08 PM)

Wanna come over?

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:36:15 PM)

Ehh???

 

yungsteinbeck69 (04:36:19 PM)

No???

 

xproblem_childx (04:36:25 PM)

OK :)

 

* * *

 

  


Lucien threw his laptop to the side and staggered up from his bed. He walked over to his door and pulled it open.

“Dad!”

 

No answer.

 

“Dad!”

 

Again nothing. Lucien rolled his eyes and slid through the door. It was always the same with parents. They pretended they didn't hear you calling so that you walk down to them but _holy shit_ when they call you from 50 miles away you need to be ready to sprint.

Lucien jogged down the giant staircase and stopped in middle of it. “Dad!“

 

Nothing.

He groaned and leaned over the handrail.

The teenager really didn’t want to put all the effort into walking downstairs for a quick talk. God, but what options did he actually have?

 

So he pushed himself off of the handrail and quickly stepped down. Lucien entered the kitchen and looked over to his father who was brewing some tea.

 

“Oh Lucien, “ his father smiled over to him. _Don't even fucking pretend you didn't hear me calling you,_ Lucien thought. “Didn't hear you coming in.”

Lucien held back a frustrated scream. He had just been 3 meters away.

 

“Ernest comes over,” Lucien leaned against the counter.

Damien made a full body turn and looked over to Lucien. “Is he attending to dinner?”

 

Lucien shrugged. “He might be but we can also just order something. “

 

Damien furrowed his brows. “You rather order take out food than enjoying my cooking skills?”

There was a fond smile on Damien features, Lucien knew he was joking.

 

“You're always making too much when people come over. “

 

“I want them to feast well, “ Damien smiled.

 

“No, you want to stuff so much food into them until they can't fight back when you kill them. “

 

“Lucien, that's a bit drastic, “ Damien started to chuckle lightly. “And stop saying my plans out loud. The walls are always listening.”

 

Lucien cracked a smile and rolled his eyes. “I'm upstairs, “ he said before leaving again.

 

Damien watched him go for the moment, still smiling slightly. Lucien had gotten better and the fact that he was smiling again made up for anything that had ever happened.

 

As Lucien entered his room again, he lazily fell back down onto his bed. He grabbed his laptop, placed it back on his lap and turned on some MCR while waiting for his friend to come over.

He was sure Ernest would be there in no time.

 

The white-haired lost himself in the endless Tumblr scrolling again, looking through his dashboard. Apart from some aesthethic posts about fandoms, where he wondered how the hell people got these together, there were some animal pictures, shipping posts and also headcanons about the people in his favourite game.

He let out a huff as he saw a post about game glitches.

 

It took around 10 more minutes until his door was shoved open.

 

“Hey loser, “ Ernest greeted him and closed the door. Ernest was in his usual attire, huge hoodie, hood pulled over his head and the snarl he was about to do was already hovering above his features. Ernest was in the middle of the worst years to be and sometimes spending time with him was beyond awkwardness. Lucien hoped that time would be over soon.

 

Ernest  threw himself next to Lucien on the bed and Lucien looked over to him.

 

“Hey,“ Lucien greeted back and shifted slightly. His mind circled back over to their chat and he started to grin. “See?“

 

Ernest made a puzzled face, not getting the hint. “See what now? “

 

“Never mind, “ Lucien chuckled lightly. “Wanna play some game or watch a movie? “

 

“What about we beat each other up? Haven't done that in a while, “ Ernest sat up and and softly slapped the side of Lucien’s leg a few times.

  
Lucien snorted and shoved his hand away before he casted the Laptop aside. “Yeah sure.”

 

“You’re going down! “ Ernest grinned and jumped up from the bed to jog over to Lucien’s couch. In front of it was a small TV and a Playstation 3. Ernest knelt down on the ground and started to pry the wires apart, so that he could connect everything.

As Lucien shuffled past him he held up a controller. Lucien took it and slouched down on the couch.

  
For a moment Lucien just watched Ernest trying to get all the wires apart. He swore while doing so until he gave up and just shoved the Playstation closer to the TV so that he could somehow connect everything. Lucien smiled slightly.

 

“So why are you hanging with that dick again?” Ernest shoved the Tekken CD into the slot and got up.

 

“Dunno, you just came over,“ Lucien shrugged and Ernest kicked him. It made Lucien chuckle.

 

“Haha, wow, great. Would you stop it already?“ Ernest scolded and flopped down next to Lucien. “And you owe me an answer.“

 

“I _owe_ you one? Nah.“ Lucien pressed start and they got to the choose a character screen. “Unbelievable that Paul is still a thing“ he muttered. “My father said even he had played him as he got his first Playstation.”

 

“His hair is pretty cool though, “ Ernest grinned and looked through the characters. “Should get a haircut like that.”

 

“As if you could do anything with that mane of yours,“ Lucien commented and Ernest stuck out his tongue.

 

After the struggle of choosing the right character to beat your best friend up, Ernest chose Eddie. Lucien groaned annoyed. “Eddie is a dick, of course you play him!”

 

Ernest laughed. “Afraid I'll kick your ass?”

 

“No, I just get someone equally assholish.“ Lucien flipped through the characters.

 

“Lei?“

 

“He isn't an ass and no, I'll take - “ he chose Xiaoyu. Classic.

 

Ernest made a disappointed face, turned his head to Lucien and gave him a look. “She isn't an asshole worthy of Eddie; the legged man.”

 

Lucien grinned . “Just get ready to get your ass handed to your face.“

 

Ernest snorted at that and they started the match after choosing the backup characters.

 

Lucien lost the first round but won the second. The final match was a really close one but Ernest did a freaking unfair long legged sidekick thing that send Lucien down the losers road. He groaned, Ernest cheered.

“No one can fucking beat the Eddie!“ he jumped a bit up and down, laughed and Lucien had to crack a smile.

“I demand a rematch,” Lucien said.

 

“Fine, after you told me what the deal with that Chad ass is,“ Ernest calmed down and leaned back into the cushions of the couch.

 

Lucien furrowed his brows. “Seriously? You wanna know that bad? Did you just come over for that?“

 

Ernest shrugged. “I just see you hanging around with him a whole fucking lot … and he's a dick.“

 

“It's not really something of your business, you know?“ Lucien growled back, venom in his voice.

 

Ernest rolled his eyes.

 

Lucien crossed his arms and looked into another direction. This shouldn’t even concern Ernest in the slightest bit. Lucien could hang with whomever he wanted and whenever he wanted. Just because that stupid 14 year old was practically glued to his heels didn't mean that he needed to justify himself to him.

God. Sometimes their friendship annoyed him.

Also, Lucien didn't want to share any of his thoughts about Chad with Ernest. He obviously thought bad of him, so why even trying to talk to him about it? Not that he would understand anyway.

 

Ernest leaned more back into the cushions in an attempt to hide from this talk and from this situation.

 

After a too long and too heavy silence Lucien sighed defeated. For a moment his eyes flickered over to Ernest, but then he narrowed them again. He shifted nervously.

Somehow he felt bad for growling at Ernest and the way the other forced himself to stare down at his feet added more to that feeling.

 

“I think I like him,” he said, shrugged and tried to brush the topic off like that. Hopefully that would be enough information for Ernest.

 

“You like _him_?” Ernests gaze shot up. Lucien felt like it pierced right through him, felt like Ernest was judging him for it.

 

Lucien growled hurt. “Yeah, so what? He seems okay, we get along, what’s it to you?”

 

Ernest gritted his teeth. “I’m just asking, man, fuck would you get it together?”

 

“Well you got your answer now.”

 

“Yeah, guess so,” Ernest rolled his eyes.

 

They grew silent again until Ernest stood up from the couch, shifting a bit. “I gotta go home now anyway, see yah,” he muttered in annoyance before he shuffled out of the room and shut the door behind him.

 

Lucien didn’t say anything and also didn’t look at him. The silence that surrounded him was making him uncomfortable, it pushed him down and dragged a guilty feeling into his guts.

He was feeling like the worst possible person to be.

 

Maybe he should apologize? Or drag the others lazy ass back for a rematch? Lucien hesitated before he got up and opened his room door but as he looked out, Ernest was already down the stairs and he could hear the front door being pulled shut.

Lucien groaned, god that fucking brat.  He slammed his door shut again, a wave of real anger going through his body.

 

Lucien let himself fall flat down on his bed. He wanted to fall asleep and not wake up for the next 2 weeks. He had fought with Ernest before and they always happened to disagree on things. They liked to tease and brag, but it had never really been anything serious.

This wasn’t either, but still it made Lucien feel like the worst again.

 

Chad was a bad topic in general … but Lucien couldn’t help himself. You can’t choose or whom you fall and even though Ernest had always made clear that he hated that guy, didn’t mean that Lucien needed to dislike him as well. It wasn’t his business and Lucien hated that Ernest cared about that stuff.

He said he should get it together. Ernest should get it together instead.

Lucien groaned in frustration and pushed his face more into the pillow.

 

It didn’t take long until a knock on his door appeared. Lucien let out a long sigh and the door shoved open, but just a bit.

 

“Lucien? Are you alright?” Damien asked carefully. Lucien wanted to scream.

 

Why could they not just leave him be? He didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want to think and god he didn’t want other to care about that.

 

“Yeah!” he growled then.

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yes, Dad, I’m fucking great. Thanks for checking in, can you go now? Please?”

 

Damien tried to get himself to a smile. “Sure, honey,” he mumbled and closed the door again.

 

Lucien gritted his teeth. Maybe he could suffocate when he just tried hard enough to breath his pillow in.

 

Why was he like this?

 

* * *

 

 

Ernest got home and threw the door shut behind him with all the frustration that had build up inside of him. Well not all of it. It echoed through the house nonetheless. God Lucien was such a fucking prick.

 

Hugo looked up from his book as he heard the door slamming shut. He was used to it by now. He let out a small sigh, stood up from the couch and walked over to where the noise had come from.

  
Ernest was trying kicking off his shoes. The shear force in his movements made clear that he either was really angry or really despised his footwear. But since Hugo knew his child, he was fairly sure the first option was the case.

 

“Ernest?”

 

“EHHHhhhhh!” Ernest kicked more furiously with his leg until the last shoe flew off his foot and hit the wall.

 

“I thought you were at Lucien’s?” Hugo tried again, hoping to make some conversation with Ernest. Conversations were mostly one-sided these days.

 

“Yeah, I _was_ ,” he growled and gritted his teeth. The teen shoved his hands into his pullover and tried to vanish in his hood.

 

“Did something happen?”

 

Ernest groaned loudly, threw his head back and walked over to the stairs. “Just go and read your books, Hugo,” he muttered and was already up the stairs.

 

Everytime Ernest called him by his first name, something broke inside of Hugo. He wasn’t even sure when it had started … or why it did. He blamed it on the teenage-rebel phase. He often wondered if he had been as bad as Ernest, wondered if he had hurt his parents like that.  
If so, he deeply regretted it by now. He let out a sigh and thought about the fact that you start to be truly an adult when you start to understand your own parents. He suddenly felt old and tried to push that thought away again.

 

His head was circling around other things anyway. Before Ernest had gotten home, he had tried to distract his mind through reading … it hadn’t really worked out though.

 

Hugos gaze went over to the clock again. Only thirty minutes left until he would pick up Damien. He was nervous. They had been meeting up for a while now, but Hugo had finally pulled the courage together to ask Damien out for a real date. It wasn’t anything special though, just another Open Mic Night and eventually dinner afterwards.

Hugo was still restless.

 

Hugo went over to the bathroom and checked on himself for possibly the 10th time in an hour. He breathed through again, tried to remind himself that this wouldn’t be anything new.

God, he was an adult. He had a child. He was able to go out with someone without freaking out like a teenager.

 

And yet there he was, staring at the reflection in the mirror and wondering about his age, if he was still good looking enough, when had he turned into an adult? It felt like it had been just yesterday where he had left his parents home for college.

 

He placed his hands on the sink and looked down. He hoped this would turn out good with Damien. He had thought about asking him out for a while now, but finding the courage to do so had taken a lot from him.

 

Hugo hadn’t dated in a long time, not since Dean and him divorced. That had been 5 years ago and he still struggled with the leftovers.After the divorce Hugo had tried to drown himself in his work and tried to figure out how to care for Ernest properly.

Dean and him had joined custody as it came to the question of who would take care of Ernest. It had been a struggle, but they settled their differences at some point. Ernest stayed with Hugo but he could see Dean whenever he wanted. He went there on every second weekend.

 

Hugo shook his head for a moment. He didn’t want to think about that topic again. The worries over the upcoming date were taking him in much more. After the divorce Hugo had started to feel almost helpless when it came to dating and alike. He worried he was out of the game, he was afraid of rejection. But Damien had somehow said yes.

 

The teacher nodded a few times. _He didn’t reject me, he didn’t reject me,_ played in his head a few times to speak comfort, to ease his worries for now. He tried to ignore the small voice that whispered: ‘ _yet’_  at the end of every sentence though.

 

Hugo checked the time agian. Four minutes had passed.

 

He checked his reflection again.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Hugo is back in the game, luckily not Jonathan Jones and the speakeasy choir, Simon and Garfunkel ?, mirror-cravings and Hugo leaving the game again? 
> 
> Warnings: wasted youths, wasted youths turning 180°, date drama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens

Hugo had been more than nervous. He couldn’t remember when it had been the last time that his heart had beat in such a fast pace.  _ He didn’t reject me _ . He reminded himself, breathing through one more time before he put his hand on the doorknob. It was time to do this.

 

For a moment the teacher turned around again though. “Ernest?” he called. No answer.

He grumbled a bit. “Ernest!”

 

It took a few more moments until he heard his son open his room door. “What?!”

 

“I go out with Damien now.”

 

“You do it every month - I know!” 

And with that Ernest closed his room door again. Hugo let out a sigh. Yes. Right. Open-Mic-Night. That was something that happened a lot lately. The only difference was just that it had never been something serious.

 

Was he sweating? - God, yes he was. 

 

Hugo inhaled deeply before he pulled the door open and left the house. A cold breeze blew into his face. It cooled him off a bit and breathing suddenly felt a lot easier. So he did just that.

He breathed in for a few moments and tried to get his nervous guts to calm down. Anxieties would most likely hit him again anyway. He hoped this evening would go as planned.

 

His gaze went over to Damien’s enormous house. It stood out from the rest, just like Damien always did. Hugo loved that about him. Hugo loved him.

 

As he saw the door of the others house opening, he felt like gravity was trying to push him down. He had never been so nervous before. 

 

Damien waved at him and Hugo smiled. Okay, now or never.  He nodded to himself one more time, ready to get into the game again before he stepped out of his yard and onto the street. Damien met him there. 

 

“Hugo, my friend!” 

 

_ Ouch. _

 

Damien greeted Hugo with a short and soft hug. 

“Shall we directly go over to the Coffee Spoon?” Damien smiled over to him and brushed some of his loose hair strands away. Hugo wanted to melt into the pavement. 

He nodded. “Should we drive?”

 

“It’s a beautiful evening, let’s go for a walk,” Damien looked into his eyes but as soon as he did, he avoided his gaze again and smiled almost apologetic. 

Hugo agreed through nodding and they started to walk down the street.

 

Damien looked as beautiful as he always did. His long, ink-black hair was flowing softly with the cool breeze, his eyes perfectly underlined with make up and his outfit was more fancy than anything that Hugo ever owned. He was like a painting and yet his person stood out to him the most.

 

Hugo had been right about his anxieties though. They were building up in his body even more than he had feared - which was probably because of the way Damien had greeted him.

_ My friend.  _

Maybe it was said something in rush? Maybe Damien was as nervous as he was and just babbled. He sometimes did that … Hugo hoped at least.

He tried to cast his worries aside, but they clinged to his mind as if they were on a sinking ship.

 

“Hugo?”    
He felt Damien’s hand softly be placed on his arm. As he looked over to the smaller man, the touch was gone again. “Yes?”

 

“I asked for your well-being. Are you feeling well?” Damien seemingly repeated himself with a tuck of an amused smile on his lips. “You seem a bit absent minded.”

 

Hugo let out a huff, trying to play it off. “I’m okay, Damien. It’s just -” quick, he needed to think of something, “Colin is a brat. He still gives me hard times.”    
And that wasn’t even a lie. 

 

Damien gave out a sympathetic sigh. “That bad again? What happened?” 

  
Hugo put his hands into the pockets of his pants. “He’s not  _ that  _ stupid, but the way he’s behaving and the way his grades are falling I doubt he will get through class. His parents are also not listening and I’m not surprised where he got that awful behaviour from.”

 

Hugos hands were out of his pockets again and he started to gesture. “I mean, he threw chalk at another student and then at a teacher!”

 

“A teacher?” Damien raised one eyebrow, a slight smile hovering above his features. 

 

Hugo cleared his throat, rearranged his glasses for a moment and avoided eye contact. “Me. I was the teacher.”

 

“Oh my, this is -” Damien started to chuckle and tried to hold it back, “horrible, just -”, he cracked up again and looked away as well, trying to get it together.

Hugo let out a small chuckle as well. “Are you laughing about me?”

“I’d never dare to,” Damien said laughing. 

 

* * *

 

They arrived just in time, nothing had started yet. “I’m looking forward to this,” Damien said as they stepped through the door. He held it open for Hugo to follow and he slightly nodded a ‘thank you’. 

“Me too,” he said. 

 

“I heard that ‘Jonathan Jones and the speakeasy choir’ is going to play this night as well, I am not entirely sure what kind of music they will be performing though,” Damien continued, smiling slightly. Hugo wanted to melt, his smile was beautiful.

  
  


“For some reason that screams ‘Simon and Garfunkel’ at me … ,” he admitted. Probably because of the combination of a name followed by the word ‘and’. Hugo couldn’t even imagine how wrong he was.

 

They walked through the Coffee Spoon together. Their feet automatically got them over to a table where they sat down together. The same table every month. It was such a little thing but it meant so much to Hugo. Maybe it was stupid, but god, this was  _ their  _ table. Damien’s and his.

 

Damien smiled at him as they sat down, shifted a bit in his seat and rearranged his cloak so that he wouldn’t sit uncomfortable. His attire always came with a price that he was willing to take. 

 

“Hugo! Damien!” Mat got over to them and smiled slightly. He was wearing a slight panic on his features - he always did when he talked to people - but talking to Hugo and Damien was a bit easier. They have seen each other on Joseph’s parties a few times and being around his neighbours was easier. 

 

“Hey Mat,” Hugo smiled. “Good evening, Mat,” Damien gave him a smile as well.

Mat seemed a bit awkward but smiled too.

 

“Good seeing you two here,” he put his hands in his sides.

 

“It’s tradition,” Hugo and Damien said in unison. Their eyes met for a moment but then both of them pulled away, their eyes darting over to Mat while both of them also blushed slightly. God was Hugo’s heart really running that fast again?

 

“Haha, okay …” Mat gave out awkwardly as both of the others stared at him. “Eh, I go and help Pablo getting his equipment out of the car.” With that Mat held up his hand to wave them goodbye and walked away.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them, Damien played with his hair, twisting it around his fingers while his mind seemed to wander. Hugo shifted and cleared his throat. 

“I’ll … get us some coffee?”

  
Damien looked back over to him, the blush had settled down - Hugo wasn’t so sure about his own though. The goth nodded. “The usual?” Hugo asked.

Damien nodded again. “You know me,” his words came out softer than Hugo would have expected them to be. A good feeling settled down in his body and he stood up - prayed for his legs to not go weak. They luckily didn’t and he walked back over to the counter.

 

It took a few moments before Mat got to him, a soft smile tugging on his lips.

“Hey,” he said. “I mean … hey again,” he added and let out a huff. “What can I get you two? Please answer before I start babbling?”

 

“An Sir Mix-E-spresso and an House of Earl Grey,” Hugo said, a bit held back because of the names. He still smiled though and remembered some of the bands. 

 

Mat nodded and started to work on both of the wished things. Hugo’s gaze went back over to their table where Damien waited for him. He was properly seated and smiled over to him. He cocked his head a bit and Hugo smiled back before he forced himself to watch Mat doing his work. 

 

Hugo was confused. The way Damien had greeted him today didn’t match their behaviour - but maybe Hugo was just overthinking things again. He was very good at that. Maybe nothing had changed at all and he was reading too much in the situation.

And even if he was, that still didn’t change the fact that Damien had blushed, that he had too. God, he really felt like a teenager.

 

Was he still looking okay? Hugo suddenly craved a mirror.

 

“Okay, here you go,” Mat ripped him out of his thoughts and Hugo paid for the drinks. “I’m going back to help Pablo getting his equipment out of the van, if you need something just let me know,” Mat said and moved back into the backroom. 

Hugo inhaled and exhaled controlled before he got both, the espresso and the tea to walk over to Damien. He placed both cups on the table before he sat down. 

 

“Thanks Hugo,” Damien looked over to him as Hugo seated himself. “Don’t mention it,” he smiled and looked over to some of the people building up their equipment. Some group of young women. He had no idea what they could possibly play, but judging from their looks it would get a bit wilder. They somehow reminded him of Lucien and his style.

His mind circled back over to Ernest who had been in a particular bad mood before.

 

“Do you know if Ernest and Lucien fought?” he shifted his gaze back over to Damien who was figuring out if his tea was already cooled down enough through putting his palms on the side of the cup. He drew back though and his eyes darted over to Hugo.

Damien sighed deeply.

“No … no I don’t know. In fact, I’ve been wanting to ask you the same thing,” he made a little pout. 

 

“You have?” 

 

“Lucien … seemed unhappy and Ernest left pretty sudden. I had planned to make dinner for the two of them.”

 

Hugo was the one sighing this time. “They will figure it out,” he mumbled and Damien nodded, still heartbroken because of Lucien’s little outburst. Being a parent was draining sometimes, but it was worth all the same. He wouldn’t want to change a thing. 

“They always do,” Damien agreed then and honestly believed what Hugo said.

Ernest and Lucien had been friends for so long, they would never part for a long time.

 

Hugo’s gaze went around the room and was spotting the door of the Coffee Spoon just in time for him to notice that a familiar face walked in. He nuzzled Damien before he held up his hand. “Tony!” 

 

Tony looked over to them, smiled slightly and approached them. 

“Fancy seeing you two here,” he said and his hand went through his short black hair. 

 

“I am, as you know, a dedicated patron of the arts,” Damien smiled proudly and he made a gesture that practically screamed ‘fancy’.

 

For a moment Hugo looked over to Damien, before he shifted his attention back to Tony. “It’s a bit of a tradition between Damien and I now. Mat’s open mic nights always seem to bring out the best talents in town.”

 

Damien nodded slightly. “Sometimes.” He pouted a little bit before he made a lighter face. “Sometimes it gets a bit odd, even for my admittedly eclectic tastes.” 

 

Tony smiled softly at that. It was his first time to be at this little event and he was curious about how it was going to turn out. “Have you guys seen Mat around?”

 

“Yeah,” Hugo said, “he was just helping that Pablo kid get some equipment out of his van.”

 

“Woah!” Tony breathed out, Hugo and Damien both made a puzzled face at that. “Vacant Veil is playing a set?”

 

“What?” Hugo rearranged his glasses, but seemed curious. Damien cocked his head slightly.

 

“It’s uh … Witch House.”

 

Damien eyes lit up slightly, a faint smile on his lips. “What is that?” 

 

“I … don’t know,” Tony admitted and gave both of them an apologetic smile. Somehow he felt bad for not keeping up with the trends. He made a side note in his head - this would be the answer he would give to Amanda when she would ask how getting old felt like. 

 

“Well,” Damien shrugged slightly and grinned a bit. “It sounds delightful.”

 

“Amanda says it isn’t,” Tony mumbled.

 

Damien’s face dropped again, a bit disappointed. “... Shame.”

 

“Alright, I’m gonna go find Mat and see if he needs any help,” Tony let out a huff before he waved both Damien and Hugo goodbye. The pair smiled and watched Tony leave. 

 

Damien turned back to Hugo then. “Do you know what Witch House is?”

 

Hugo eyed Damien before he slowly shook his head. “I have no idea,” he admitted and Damien smiled again. “I guess we’re in for a surprise, my friend,” he mumbled before he took a sip of his cooled down tea. 

 

It didn’t take all too long until Mat was finally opening the mic night with a little awkward speech. Hugo had already shot down his espresso while Damien was still sipping on his tea. 

Mat announced the first band to be Vacant Veil. Hugo and Damien eyed each other for a moment before they looked to the stage again. 

 

A young person with green hair build up his laptop and Hugo squinted his eyes a bit. He suddenly remembered long parent talks, days and nights of worries, him driving out of town to search for a special kid that chose to throw away lots of things. He remembered a kid having the wrong crowd of friends.

He has had no idea that Mat had meant this Pablo. 

 

His thoughts got stopped as Witch House started to hit him and it hit hard. He wasn’t sure what happened and wasn’t even completely sure if that could actually be called music? Even though he did also not know what other genre this would belong to. 

 

Afterwards Pablo called out to his mother, Hugo smiled slightly at that. It was sweet, he remembered them always having a good relationship even though it had been difficult at some points. He was glad that everything had turned out good.

 

The next band followed and Hugo wasn’t sure if he was enjoying the punk sound or not. It reminded him of his own youth, the time where he had wasted himself as well. It hadn’t been all too bad, but bad enough for his now different mindset. Damien had settled back in his seat and was fumbling around with his tea, slightly nodding to the beat. He seemed to enjoy it. 

 

After that band left some other acts took place. Some of them weren’t bad and others could have used a bit more training. Like the magician for example. 

 

The evening was about to end with the last act. Hugo shifted slightly and leaned over to Damien. “Jonathan Jones and the speakeasy choir is probably playing now,” he mumbled.

Damien nodded. “They haven’t played yet. Let’s see if they are anything like Simon and Garfunkel,” a slight grin tugged on his lips. Hugo huffed and smiled as well before he pulled back.

 

Mat announced the next band which was definitely not Jonathan Jones and the speakeasy choir. Hugo furrowed his brows. “Skammunist Manifesto?” Damien mumbled next to Hugo and widened his eyes as he heard the name of the person playing.

Hugo stiffened and stared towards the stage.

 

Tony Rogers was awkwardly shifting towards it and sat down in front of the piano and slammed down the most interesting music session ever. 

 

* * *

 

As the night played over Hugo and Damien slowly walked home. They took their time though. Hugo had his hands in his pockets and Damien walked as graceful as ever, but he had loosened up a bit. 

 

“You seemed to be enjoying the punk band,” Hugo pointed out while walking, remembering Damien nodding to the beat. Damien made his typical face.

 

“I …” he started and sounded almost insecure. “I have to listen to similar things, thanks to Lucien.”

 

Hugo huffed and thought about Ernest’s music. Hugo still didn’t like Hip Hop no matter how much Ernest listened to it and no matter how loud he would turn it up. 

  
They walked in silence again until Hugo brought up another topic.

 

“And? You’re planning on starting an industrial darkwave ska band?” Hugo joked and Damien let out a light laugh. “I’m thinking about it, do you want to help?”

 

Hugo huffed. “I’m not really a musician.”

 

“I think you can also just make some sounds with a special program, Hugo, we don’t necessarily need instruments,” Damien said and his eyes lit up while he talked. 

 

“I’m not pretty good with computers,” he admitted and Damien laughed. He didn’t try to hide his amusement this time. Hugo smiled and chuckled as well. 

 

“I might show you someday,” Damien whispered but Hugo caught it. “You’re good with them?”

 

Damien made his pout. “Some things better stay hidden.” There was still some amusement on his features, but the way he spoke told Hugo not to pry any further, so he didn’t.

 

“I’m glad Mat plays again though,” he softly changed the topic and Damien nodded in agreement. “Yes,” he said. “He has had a hard time, Tony seems to do him good. I’m glad for both of them.” 

 

“It’s good that Mat was ready for something new again,” Hugo mumbled, thinking about his own struggle with dating and getting back into it. Damien sighed slightly.

 

“It is hard to start something new I imagine, I’m not sure if I would be ready for the step of dating someone again,” he admitted.

The words stung, hit Hugo deep in his chest and his guts twisted. He wasn’t sure what to say to this. God, how would you respond to words like these in a situation like this? 

His mind went around thousands of corners.

  
Damien wasn’t ready for dating? Did Hugo subtly force him to go out with him? Had he meant to say no? Did he actually say no but Hugo thought it was a yes? Oh god, had he done something wrong? Was this Damien’s way of telling him that this wouldn’t continue, that they would never ever be an item? 

 

“Are you ready for it?” he heard Damien ask and Hugo was still not sure how to respond. 

“Eh … I’m not sure,” he mumbled as if he was out of breath. Damien slowly nodded.

 

They walked the rest of the way in silence, Hugo sunken deep into his thoughts while Damien enjoyed the silence. They stopped in the middle of the streets, on opposite sides their houses.

 

“This evening was great, Hugo. Thanks a lot for taking me out,” Damien smiled and Hugo got even more confused. He nodded defeated and forced himself to smile. 

“It was fun,” he said and Damien placed a hand on Hugo’s arm. He smiled softly and Hugo wished he could kiss the other goodbye.

 

“Next month, same place, same time?” Damien’s soft voice hurt even more now that Hugo was sure the goth wasn’t interested. He nodded anyway.

 

“Very well and next time I am paying for the coffee,” Damien let go of Hugo and stepped away over to his own house. He didn’t look back and Hugo turned around as well, walking home.

He opened the front door, stepped inside and closed the door again.

 

Hugo let out a frustrated groan that sounded more like a whine actually. He wanted to lie down and never get up again, but his responsibility called.

 

“Hugo? You’re home?” 

 

The man looked up and couldn’t see Ernest at the staircase. He was probably yelling down from his door. 

 

“Yes,” he called back, voice exhausted and wry. 

 

“Dad texted me if I want to come over this weekend!” Ernest shouted down. 

 

Hugo growled a bit. He really didn’t want to think about Dean after he kind of got dumped by Damien. 

 

“And? Do you want to?”

 

Ernest snarled. “Told him I got lots of homework to do.”

“You don’t,” Hugo sighed. Not that Ernest would do them if he had. 

 

“Don’t tell him that, Hugo!” 

And with that Ernest shut his door again. Hugo let out another sigh. He wasn’t feeling like doing much more for this evening and walked over to the bathroom. 

 

He tried not to think too much about his reflection while he brushed his teeth and after he had changed clothes he slid into his comfortable bed and tried to let the evening pass by.

 

* * *

 

“Dad? You’re back? How was mic night with your  _ date _ ?” Lucien greeted Damien as he entered his home. The teen had heard the keys and got out of the kitchen to meet his father in the corridor. 

 

Damien huffed. “Stop it, Lucien. It wasn’t a date,” he said smiling and walked over to him, giving him a small peck on the cheek. “Goodnight, honey,” he said.

 

Lucien rolled his eyes. “Night, dad,” he mumbled before he disappeared into the kitchen again. Damien smiled slightly before he got upstairs.

 

For a moment his mind lingered on at Lucien’s words. A date with Hugo … as if that man would be interested in Damien. The goths eyes turned sad at that thought. 

 

Maybe someday far away in the future. 


End file.
